In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions admitted he now recalls a meeting with the Trump campaign aide who was found guilty of Russian ties. Sessions previously denied any knowledge of Russian involvement.

Sessions Photo Credit: Reuters/Channel 2 News

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday about the Russian involvement in US President Trump’s campaign in the 2016 presidential election. For the first time since being questioned, Session changed his narrative and told the committee he now remembers a meeting with George Papadopoulos, a campaign aide who lied to the FBI about having Russian ties.

In October, Sessions insisted he had no knowledge of any person in Trump’s campaign who was in contact with Russia. “I did not, and I’m not aware of anyone else that did, and I don’t believe it happened,” the attorney general said at the time.

On Tuesday, Sessions admitted to meeting with Papadopoulos in March 2016 after reports surrounding the affair surfaced. “Frankly, I had no recollection of this meeting until I saw these news reports,” said Sessions. “I do now recall the March 2016 meeting at Trump Hotel that Mr. Papadopoulos attended, but I have no clear recollection of the details of what he said during that meeting.”

“After reading his account, and to the best of my recollection, I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government,” Sessions explained. “But I did not recall this event, which occurred 18 months before my testimony of a few weeks ago, and would gladly have reported it.”

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about meeting with Russian contacts who promised him information that would potentially damage candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The Trump aide has joined a growing list of people being accused of Russian ties prior to the 2016 election. In April, an investigation was launched against now retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn for involvement in the affair